FOR GREA T BRITAIN AND IRELAND. 61 



skerry, in order to fix upon the best site for a lighthouse, 

 my attention was speedily attracted by some unmistakeable 

 indications of a violent destructive agency which seemed 

 to have been lately at work upon the hard rock of which 

 it consists." 



" These were the presence of loose blocks of a very large 

 size, which had been detached from the adjoining strata. 

 The only visible agent was the ocean, the unruffled surface 

 of which appeared far below the place where I stood, not 

 less, indeed, than 70 ft., as the levels afterwards proved. 

 Under circumstances so unlikely, it will not appear strange 

 that I did not readily persuade myself that the sea was in- 

 deed the agent of destruction. But, after wandering for an 

 hour or more over the surface of this islet, it was impossible 

 any longer to doubt that the remarkable effects were due to 

 the sea alone. I landed on the Bound Skerry with what 

 I thought tolerably certain and definite conceptions, but 

 I came away with greatly altered views." 



" In order to satisfy myself fully as to the matter, I 

 proceeded to the adjoining islands of Gruna and Bruny, 

 where at almost every step similar proofs of violent 

 action presented themselves." 



"At Bruny, for instance, the ground was covered with 

 large recently moved blocks, at an elevation of 45 feet 

 above high water." 



"To return, however, to the Bound Skerry, it may be 

 stated that a considerable portion of the rock which 

 confronts the south-eastern, round to the north-eastern seas, 

 is in a rapid state of disintegration. On the south-east 

 side, about 370 feet from the low-water mark, and at a 

 height of 62\ feet above its level, there occurs a remarkable 

 beach of angular blocks, varying in size from about 9^- tons 

 downwards, and huddled together just as one would have 



